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England’s players have been given a three-day holiday – but will not be able to leave the country after the Football Association took their passports.
Roy Hodgson’s men, who took on Portugal in their final Euro 2016 tune-up at Wembley on Thursday, have now been given an extended break before they report back for duty as they bid to end 50 years without a major trophy.
The manager has told them to go away and relax before the hard work starts, but they can only do so within Britain.
Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and co have the green light to spend some time apart from each other in a bid to keep cabin fever at bay before they head across the Channel to their training camp in Chantilly.
However, any thoughts of a trip abroad have been ruled out after Wembley officials asked for their passports.
It means that scenes such as the infamous dentist’s chair, when a couple of weeks prior to Euro ’96 England players were captured pouring booze down each other’s throats in a Hong Kong nightclub, will not be repeated.
‘The players are all on board with it and, to be honest, are thankful for time with their families and to recharge the batteries.
‘I don’t think anyone was planning to jet off to Miami or Ibiza but this takes away the option.’
It is also understood that the FA do not wish to encounter any last-minute travel issues and are keen to avoid the possibility of players forgetting or losing their passports.
In February, Barcelona’s ex-Liverpool star Luis Suarez left his passport at home ahead of the Catalans’ Champions League trip to London to face Arsenal.
A club official was hurriedly dispersed to the Uruguayan’s address to pick it up and Suarez eventually managed to catch the same flight as his teammates.
And it is not just players who sometimes have issues remembering their travel documents.
Last September, then Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini turned up at Manchester Airport for his side’s flight to Germany ahead of a match with Borussia Monchengladbach without his passport.